Mrs. Rossetti
(18th and 19th Centuries )
This miniature is in fact a photograph (probably an albumen print) painted over in gouache. The over-painting has been attributed to Elizabeth Siddall's husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the English poet and founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, formed in London in 1848. The lavish frame in gold, opal, sapphires and diamonds (made in London) was added in 1906 by J. Pierpont Morgan, a previous owner, and it was cataloged by G.C. Williamson in the same year as "Mrs. Rossetti."
The story attached to the photograph is that, after Siddall's death in February 1862, Rossetti gave it to a nurse who had attended at the birth of Siddall's still-born child, and that it passed to the nurse's daughter, who in difficult financial times sold it to a clergyman (see G.C. Williamson, "Catalogue of the Collection of Miniatures, the Property of J. Pierpont Morgan," vol. 2, London: Chiswick Press, 1906, p. 116). This story is also told by Williamson with some variations in "Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan's Pictures, the English Miniatures, V.," Connoisseur, 8:70, June 1907, pp. 71-76, p. 75; "Stories of an Expert," 1935, pp. 36-39; and "The Cases of an Art Expert, II, The Rossetti Miniature," Country Life, 80, 11 July 1936, p. 35-6.).
The costume is correct for ca. 1860 and the portrait shows strong resemblances to Siddall as depicted in several studies and paintings by Rossetti. The pose recalls the posthumously completed painting "Beata Beatrix" (ca.1864-70), Tate Britain, London, N01279.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Collection of J.P. Morgan, acquired before 1906, mode of acquisition unknown; Christies sale of Morgan's minatures, New York, 1935 ["Mitchell"? name noted in Morgan Library copy of sale catalog]; A. Jay Fink, date and mode of acquisition unknown; Walters Art Museum, 1963, by gift.
Exhibitions
2019-2021 | Excursions through the Collection: Portraiture, Adornment, and the Natural World. |
2013 | Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde. National Gallery of Art, Washington. |
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
1/14/1964 | Treatment | cleaned |
5/22/1964 | Treatment | other |
2/1/1988 | Examination | examined for condition |
6/7/2013 | Examination | examined for loan |
Geographies
United Kingdom, England
(Place of Origin)
France, Paris (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Photograph H: 2 x w: 3 in. (5.08 x 7.62 cm); Framed with loop: 5 11/16 x 4 1/4 x 3/8 in. (14.5 x 10.8 x 1 cm); Framed without loop: 5 3/16 x 4 1/4 x 3/8 in. (13.2 x 10.8 x 1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the A. Jay Fink Foundation, Inc., in memory of Abraham Jay Fink, 1963
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
38.419